Paste tube closure means



Oct. 5, 1943. c. .LPEAK PASTE TUBE CLOSURE MEANS Filed Sept. 23, 1941 Elma/who'll v Patente doct. 5, 1943 assume if .iensrrnrunnomsUnaMEANs This invention relates: to improaementsin closure, meansfomcollapsibie;tuheszoi' the type. employed for merchandisingxtoolthpaste, shaving cream, paintsrand. other fluid or seam-fluid.- materials.

The primary object, of the present; invention is to provide a novel closure: means for such tubesrwhichl is of a type: to be. economicallyproduced and which functions automatically upon the application of. pressureto. certain parts thereof, toaopen upon'release of such-pressure closes to shut ofi theefiow of material-..

,Another' object of. the invention is: to. provide in a collapsible tube, a closure element P01113111 endof thetube. comprising a yieldablev body-overlying an opening the Glldfifi the tube and. having a slitthrough which the contents of thetube may be ejected and flexible co acting1iawsnorr mally functioning to.- overlie and press against the flexible. material at .thaside-of the discharge slit. to maintain the same olosedpsaidjaws. being automatically separated -.upon the application of pressure to. o posite sidesiof-the. closureelement.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration oil the. following detailed description taken in oonnection'with the accompanying drawing it being understood howeventhat; the invention. is notto be considered as: limited by the specifle blustration. or description, but'that such illustration description constitute. a preferred, embodiment ot the invention.

.In the drawing- Fig; l. is a sectional view on an. enlarged. scale.

' taken on a line-extending longitudinally of the tube andtransversely oi the closure element,

showing the parts of the closure element onan exaggerated scale.

to but with thecoeaetingda-ws thereof.

separated to. permit the discharge of material from the. tubev r Fig. 3 is a view ofthe end of; the tube aszinitial- 1y prepared for the application of the closure element thereto. I I 3 Fig. v4 is a view in plan of the adhesive; sheet which is appliedover'the end of the tube and of the rubber sheet carried by the adhesive sheet.

Fig. 5 is a view in plan of the resilient plate which is applied over the adhesive sheet and which carries the resilient separable jaws.

Fig. 6 is a view of the cap which is applied over the co-acting ends of the jaws.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing the numeral 1 generally designates a portion of one end of a foldable or collapsible tubeof thetypecommonly employed for" toothpaste,

sharing. cream Ian-cit the like and to which the closure element-embodying the present invention is applied.

In carrying out the present-invention; the collap'sible tube is. preparedi'by being cut" straight acrossas-shownlin. Fig."-l 3,'- and'at the central part. of the two parallel end edges thus-formed,

there is out out the notch or opening -2'. Th'egtwo portions: of the end of thetube upon the two sides of the notch .2 i are then folded or' crimpecl' over,

asind-icated at 3,: so' thatmaterial can .beexpelled from the tubeon ly'through the notch portion 'z. In addition tor preventing the: material from escapingfrom the tube .upon the two sides. of the notch '2 this backfold also 'provi'des an f edge to I terial 4. having upon one. side I facea I suitable adhesive coating. 5 by which the'stri'p or'sheet can be secured firm-1y to the body :of' the tube 'A material such as the well known adhesive tape,

might be employed 'for the formationof the sheet 4. 'The sheet or strip d is then-provided with-an elongatedropening fi ofieawidthcorrespending to the widthof the notch Z' and' ofisubstantial length-so that when the sheet k is securedover theendof the tube I-to have substan- ,tially one-half of the: adhesive surface secured against a side of the tube, the ends'oi the'opening out or notch 2. I I

There is next applied to the adhesive lace- 5 61 will match uplwith: the inner part of 'the cut V ofthe sheet k, a strip ofrubber I, having a sufiici'ent length. and'w/idth: to completely cover the opening 6. and this strip: of rubber sheet'is pro vided with a slit 8 which is located substantially mid-way between the GIIdS iOf thE' opening 6. and extends acrossthe opening as shown i-n-Fig. 4. The strip of rubber 'Lwill beflrmly secured between the sheet 4 and the body of the tube and' will; oijcourse; be folded across the opening witlr "the sheet" 4 and" it is arranged so that the slit. 8.. will alinewith the end edge of theitube and extend. across the cutloutaportion 2 from one side to the other.

The numeral 9 generallyindicates an elongatof its ends with the transversally extending roughened surface portion l0 and the sheet is,

This metal sheet or plate is provided substantially mid-way I designed to be folded transversally mid-way between its ends to receive the end edge of the tube and the bodies 4 and 1 applied thereto.

The metal plate 9 has cut therethrough the spaced parallel longitudinally extending slots H and the material between these slots is then cut transversally as indicated at l2, along the transverse center of the plate, so as to provide the two resilient or spring jaws l3.

When the plate 9 is bent or folded transversally along the line of the cut or split l2 it is then folded across the end edge of the tube and the roughened part If! at the sides of the tongues or the jaws l3 are pressed tightly together so as to grip firmly between them or between opposing faces of the plate, the folded portion 3 of the tube and the bodies 4 and I. This arrangement is clearly shown in Fig. 1 where the parts are illustrated on an exaggerated scale to clearly show their assembled relation. It will thus be seen that the plate 9 forms a cover cap which in the portion adjacent to jaw l3 firmly grips the end edge of the tube upon two sides of the cut out 2 and then extends over the sloping sides of the tube forming the wing portions M which may lie against the adjacent walls of the tube or be slightly spaced therefrom as may be found to be most suitable. It will of course be understood that adjacent ends of the jaws l3 will also be bent so as to constantly press together over the rubber body 1 at the slit 8 so as to hold the edges of the slit of the rubber body together and thus prevent any of the material in the tube escaping therefrom. As shown in Figure 2 when the lower ends or remote ends of the portion M of the metal plate 9 are pressed inwardly toward the sides of the tube the part of the plate 9 upon each side of the slot H and which is clamped over the end edge of the tube, will flex but the jaws l3 will be sprung apart and consequently when tube is pressed the material thereof will force itself against the rubber body I causing the latter to stretch and thus separate the edges of the slit 8 so that the material will escape and in the form of a ribbon.

The metal cap l5, shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 6, comprises merely a piece of material bent to have a substantially U-shaped cross-section and this is slipped over the bend in the plate 9 to cover the ends of jaws l3 and is frictionally held in place. This cap will be applied, of course, when the tube is packaged for sale and also, when it has been put in use, and after a desired quantity of the contents of the tube has been expelled therefrom.

In the carrying out of the present invention the sheet 4 may be made, if desired, so cover the entire end of the tube and the resilient sheet or strip 1 may or may not be used as found desirable. The use of this rubber sheet is made when an extra tight sealing of the opening is desired or where the contents of the tube may be of acid character.

Also it is to be understood that while the jaws I3 have been shown as being of equal length and coming together in the center of the discharge opening they may be of unequal length or use my be made of only one jaw if desired in which case the contents of the tube may more easily be spread over a flat surface.

What is claimed is:

1. In a dispensing collapsible tube, a tube bozhr formed at one end to have opposite sides disposed in contacting relation forming a straight body, said transverse edge having a notch cut therein at the central part of the edge, a sheet of stretchable material covering the end portion of the tube in which the notch is formed and having a slit coinciding with the notch, a pair of resilient jaw members supported upon the said end of the tube upon opposite sides of the notch and having free ends in contacting relation over the slit portion of said body of stretchable material, and means for springing the free ends of said jaws apart to permit the contents of the tube to be extruded through the slit of the stretchable body.

2. In a collapsible paste tube of the character stated, a tube body formed at one end to have opposite sides disposed in contacting relation forming a straight transverse body, said edge having an outlet opening cut therein at said edge, a sheet of stretchable material secured across said edge to cover said opening and having a slit coinciding with the opening through which material may be expelled, and resilient jaw members carried by the tube and engaging over said sheet and slit to normally close the slit, said jaw members being separable to facilitate the extrusion of the contents of the tube through said slit.

3. In a collapsible paste tube of the character stated, a tube body formed at one end to have opposite sides disposed in contacting relation forming a straight transverse edge, said body having a notch cut therein at the central part of the edge to form a discharge opening, a sealing strip secured across said edge from one side of the tube to the other, said strip having a slit coinciding with said opening, a sheet of rubber secured between the strip and the edge of the tube and covering the said opening and also covering the slit in the strip, said sheet of rubber having a slit formed therein to extend transversely of the first slit and to extend across the notch parallel with the edge of the tube, and a pair of resilient jaws mounted upon the tube upon opposite sides of the notch and engag ng together over the slit of the rubber sheet to maintain the rubber sheet in position and prevent opening of the slit therein, said jaws being separable to permit the slit to open and to permit the extrusion of the contents of the tube.

4. A structure as set forth in claim 3, including a plate body bent transversely to form two side portions and disposed across and having the said edge of the tube between the two side portions, the said side portions having gripping relation with said edge, said jaws being an integral part of said plate body and the opposite sides of the bent plate body being moveable relative to the tube to facilitate relative shifting of the ends of the jaws.

CLYDE J. PEAK. 

